Successful Californians must pay over 50% of their income at the top marginal rates in state and federal income taxes. That’s right – Obama’s tax hike created a 39% top Federal income tax bracket, and combined with California’s top of the nation 13% plus, our state’s most successful citizens aren’t working for themselves anymore, they are working for the government when they hit the top brackets.

But the “California Tax Hike Industry” isn’t satisfied. In the upcoming election, they want even more taxes. They want to keep California’s sales and income taxes the highest in the nation by urging voters to vote “Yes” on Proposition 55. They want even more “consumption” taxes on cigarettes by urging a “Yes” vote on Proposition 56. And more sinisterly, the California Tax Hike Industry has qualified about 200 local measures that ask voters to raise their property taxes (“for the kids”taxes but really for the California Teachers Association who already benefit from high wages and great pension plans), raise and extend sales taxes (claiming the funds will fix roads, roads that should have been fixed in the first place but for overpaying civil servants and overly generous pensions), raise hotel taxes, raise parcel taxes, you name it, the professional tax raisers are really at it in this election.

More than 41,000 people are asking Congress to stop paying President Barack Obama’s salary while he campaigns for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

“We the People demand that Congress withhold President Obama’s salary, pension, travel expenses, etc. for any time he spends actively campaigning for Hillary Clinton between now and the election in November,” the petition on conservative petition site StandUnited says....

This election is unlike any other in our nation’s history. Like many other voters, I have struggled to determine the right course of action in this general election.

In Cleveland, I urged voters, “please, don’t stay home in November. Stand, and speak, and vote your conscience, vote for candidates up and down the ticket whom you trust to defend our freedom and to be faithful to the Constitution.”

After many months of careful consideration, of prayer and searching my own conscience, I have decided that on Election Day, I will vote for the Republican nominee, Donald Trump.

I’ve made this decision for two reasons. First, last year, I promised to support the Republican nominee. And I intend to keep my word.

Second, even though I have had areas of significant disagreement with our nominee, by any measure Hillary Clinton is wholly unacceptable — that’s why I have always been #NeverHillary.

Six key policy differences inform my decision. First, and most important, the Supreme Court. For anyone concerned about the Bill of Rights — free speech, religious liberty, the Second Amendment — the Court hangs in the balance. I have spent my professional career fighting before the Court to defend the Constitution. We are only one justice away from losing our most basic rights, and the next president will appoint as many as four new justices. We know, without a doubt, that every Clinton appointee would be a left-wing ideologue. Trump, in contrast, has promised to appoint justices “in the mold of Scalia.”

For some time, I have been seeking greater specificity on this issue, and today the Trump campaign provided that, releasing a very strong list of potential Supreme Court nominees — including Sen. Mike Lee, who would make an extraordinary justice — and making an explicit commitment to nominate only from that list. This commitment matters, and it provides a serious reason for voters to choose to support Trump.

Second, Obamacare. The failed healthcare law is hurting millions of Americans. If Republicans hold Congress, leadership has committed to passing legislation repealing Obamacare. Clinton, we know beyond a shadow of doubt, would veto that legislation. Trump has said he would sign it.

Third, energy. Clinton would continue the Obama administration’s war on coal and relentless efforts to crush the oil and gas industry. Trump has said he will reduce regulations and allow the blossoming American energy renaissance to create millions of new high-paying jobs.

Fourth, immigration. Clinton would continue and even expand President Obama’s lawless executive amnesty. Trump has promised that he would revoke those illegal executive orders.

Fifth, national security. Clinton would continue the Obama administration’s willful blindness to radical Islamic terrorism. She would continue importing Middle Eastern refugees whom the FBI cannot vet to make sure they are not terrorists. Trump has promised to stop the deluge of unvetted refugees.

Sixth, Internet freedom. Clinton supports Obama’s plan to hand over control of the Internet to an international community of stakeholders, including Russia, China, and Iran. Just this week, Trump came out strongly against that plan, and in support of free speech online.

These are six vital issues where the candidates’ positions present a clear choice for the American people.

If Clinton wins, we know — with 100% certainty — that she would deliver on her left-wing promises, with devastating results for our country.

My conscience tells me I must do whatever I can to stop that.

We also have seen, over the past few weeks and months, a Trump campaign focusing more and more on freedom — including emphasizing school choice and the power of economic growth to lift African-Americans and Hispanics to prosperity.

Finally, after eight years of a lawless Obama administration, targeting and persecuting those disfavored by the administration, fidelity to the rule of law has never been more important.

The Supreme Court will be critical in preserving the rule of law. And, if the next administration fails to honor the Constitution and Bill of Rights, then I hope that Republicans and Democrats will stand united in protecting our fundamental liberties.

Our country is in crisis. Hillary Clinton is manifestly unfit to be president, and her policies would harm millions of Americans. And Donald Trump is the only thing standing in her way.

A year ago, I pledged to endorse the Republican nominee, and I am honoring that commitment. And if you don’t want to see a Hillary Clinton presidency, I encourage you to vote for him.

When future historians debate why the U.S. did so little to stop the tragedy in Syria, they should dig up the speech President Barack Obama just gave at a U.N. summit on refugees.

While Democrats signaled their collective virtue by denouncing a tweet from Donald Trump Jr. that compared Syrian refugees to Skittles, Obama lectured foreign ministers and heads of state this week on the same topic. "And just as failure to act in the past, for example, by turning away Jews fleeing Nazi Germany, is a stain on our collective conscience," Obama said, "I believe history will judge us harshly if we do not rise to this moment."

Obama went on to state something obvious: "We must recognize that refugees are a symptom of larger failures -- be it war, ethnic tensions, or persecution." But then he said something bizarre: "If we truly want to address the crisis, wars like the savagery in Syria must be brought to an end, and it will be brought to an end through political settlement and diplomacy, and not simply by bombing."

This of course is a straw man. No one who has argued for more U.S. involvement in Syria has said more bombing alone will solve these problems. What's more, the U.S. is doing a lot of bombing in Syria today against the Islamic State.

But there is also something sinister about Obama's formulation. The U.S. is not just another country when it comes to the collective security of the Middle East. Through its alliances and interventions, it has been the region's reluctant sheriff since the end of World War II. In this sense, it's rich of Obama to pose as a Jeremiah when he has acted more like a Nero....

The request seeks to establish whether Paul Combetta, an IT technician for the firm Platte River Networks, was responsible for a posting on Reddit over 2 years ago which asked for help stripping the email address of a “very VIP” from archived messages.

Combetta was the computer specialist who deleted Hillary Clinton’s emails using the BleachBit app while they were under subpoena but was granted immunity by the Justice Department.

The chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, told The Hill that Reddit is “cooperating” with the request, which he says carries the “weight of law.”

“You can’t destroy things and hope things magically get erased,” he said, adding that the allegations “fit the pattern of what we think was happening.”

Donald Trump on Wednesday came out against a plan for the U.S. to relinquish control of functions central to the internet, backing a group of conservative lawmakers seeking to block it.

"Donald J. Trump is committed to preserving internet freedom for the American people and citizens all over the world,” Trump campaign senior policy director Stephen Miller said in a statement.

“The Republicans in Congress are admirably leading a fight to save the internet this week, and need all the help the American people can give them to be successful,” he added. “Congress needs to act, or internet freedom will be lost for good, since there will be no way to make it great again once it is lost."

In one particularly lewd message, he told the teen: 'I would bust that tight p***y so hard and so often that you would leak and limp for a week.'

When confronted with the claims, Weiner did not deny exchanging 'flirtatious' messages with the teen. He declined to comment on the specifics of the allegations on the record, but provided copies of two emails the girl sent him that he contends raised questions about her claims. DailyMail.com publishes them below.

He gave a statement to DailyMail.com in which he says, in part: 'I have repeatedly demonstrated terrible judgement about the people I have communicated with online and the things I have sent. I am filled with regret and heartbroken for those I have hurt.'

The revelation comes just weeks after Weiner's wife Huma Abedin announced that they had separated in the wake of another sexting controversy.

In August, the New York Post reported on sexual chats between Weiner and a 40-year-old woman, during which the former congressman sent her provocative shirtless photos of him while his four-year-old son was curled up next to him in bed.

https://t.co/GEhtQMXFEQ Anthony Weiner and his penchant for underage girls should be the subject of a serious criminal investigation.

...with Hillary's desperately needing to make an appearance, overnight CBS reported that Clinton campaign officials said that a Tuesday fundraiser in Chapel Hill was postponed.

The Clinton event was billed as “lunch with Hillary Rodham Clinton” and had four donation levels to attend. Those contribution levels were described as $100,000, which featured “chair reception with Hillary,” $33,000, which included a “host reception with Hillary,” $5,000, which included “preferred seating” and $2,700.

No reason was given for postponement of the Clinton event, which was planned to take place at the home of Betty Craven and Michael Warner.

Welcome

Hi, I'm John Schutt, chairman of the Humboldt County Republican Central Committee: Want to get involved? We need republicans for open spots on the central committee, committee seats, letters to the editor writers, and more. Send me your thoughts and ideas on making Humboldt great again. Please feel free to call the office (442-2259) or leave a message here (or on Facebook) and I will get back to you as soon as possible.